Hammock Time! (Pajama Pants Optional)

The love of hip-hop icons and mere mortals alike, hammocks have been around for at least a thousand years.The hammock’s ancient status in the annals of history is no mystery: Sleeping off the ground is almost always better than sleeping on the ground, especially when you’re in the wild. If you’ve ever had a snake slip into your sleeping bag in the middle of the night (just take a second to imagine that) then you understand this quite well.When it comes to the hammock’s origin, it all depends on who you ask, which also makes sense. It’s not as if one great mind had to teach the rest of the world that sleeping with your head in the dirt wasn’t the best way to do it. Even so, Christopher Columbus – a dubious thunder stealer of many a historical moment – is often credited with introducing the hammock to the European aristocracy after his return from the so-called New World.Tales of sailing the ocean blue aside, people have known for centuries that rocking induces sleep. That’s why we rock our babies. It likely didn’t take early humans too long to make the connection between rocking a baby and rocking oneself, and Swiss researchers have backed up the whole notion with science. A 2011 study at the University of Geneva’s Department of Neuroscience proved that rocking synchronizes brain waves during short naps.Hammock time, indeed! (This, by the way, is an MC Hammer joke for those of you who missed that particular blip in hip-hop history.)In other words, hammocks are magical. Think about it: Does the mere sight of a hammock start to relax you? Dollars to donuts says it does. Seeing a hammock probably makes you want to settle in and listen to the trees creak as you swing in the breeze.Why? Because wanting to be rocked to sleep is a desire that’s hardwired into your genetic code.The trick, though, is finding the right hammock and if you’ve ever flipped out of one you understand this, too. Everyone’s different, which is okay because there are a lot of different kinds of hammocks.We hope you find the perfect hammock for the rest of your sweetly swaying summer snoozes .